Union Head to Texas to Face F.C. Dallas

The Union, who played the Galaxy to a 1-1 draw at home on Wednesday, have a short turnaround and are on the road tonight in Frisco, Texas where they'll play F.C. Dallas (8:30PM/The Comcast Network).

On Wednesday the Galaxy were without David Beckham. Tonight F.C. Dallas will be without reigning MLS MVP David Ferreira who suffered a gruesome broken ankle on April 23rd against Vancouver. At the time of the injury Ferreira was leading Dallas in scoring with three goals in six games.

With Ferreira out Dallas has been forced to rely on a more balanced
attack. They've had six players (other than Ferreira) score goals so far
this season, which helps to explain how they're tied for third in the
Western Conference despite playing without the league MVP.

A couple of familiar names appear on the Dallas roster. Former Union players Andrew Jacobson and Chris Seitz now wear the Dallas red and white. Seitz has yet to play, but Jacobson has appeared in seven games, starting six of them.

For the Union the story remains the same. It's lockdown defense and an offense missing in action. The game on Wednesday provided little in the way of evidence that things are going to change any time soon.

For 80+ minutes the Union had zero offense to speak of. It took yet another botched pass by an opposing player - this time it was Sean Franklin, against New York it was Tim Ream - for the Union to score a goal.

Yes, it was encouraging to see Danny Mwanga calmly beat Donovan Ricketts and open his account, but the offense didn't exactly show many positive signs. They struggle to connect on passes, are seemingly unable to put together any combination play, and appear unwilling to run at people. They've been entirely too negative in their play.

How futile has the Union offense been? Well, they're the lowest scoring team in Major League Soccer.

It's funny, I was at the game on Wednesday and had a "they've arrived as a true Philadelphia team" moment when the fans around me were yelling and pleading for the Union to go forward. They'd had enough and saw one too many back passes.

It reminded me of the fans at Flyers games who yell at the team to shoot while on the power play, or the people at Eagles games who scream at Andy Reid to run the ball. In this instance the fans in my section just wanted to see some positive play.

Fair or not their ire was mostly directed at Justin Mapp. When he arrived I wrote that he was a very talented player who had a tendency to drift for long stretches. Well, he's certainly lived up to the "drift for long stretches" part. He's been providing absolutely nothing out on the flank. I think it may be time to make a change there. Hopefully Peter Nowak watched the tape when he returned from Poland and has the same feeling.

Also, why not juggle things up top and insert Jack McInerney in place of Carlos Ruiz. They need to be more athletic up front. Ruiz just constantly sloooooooowwwwwsssss things down. You are not sacrificing anything defensively if you remove Ruiz. Please, for the love of offense make the change.

One final note. Although not listed on the injury report Mondragon suffered a groin injury on Wednesday. He managed to finish out the game, but it bears monitoring this evening. If he's unable to go the full ninety then we may see rookie first round pick Zac MacMath.

Final Score Prediction: Although I think the game could end 0-0 it goes against my offensive sensibilities to predict such a score line. So, with recent history as my guide, let's say 1-0 Union.

The Toni Stahl Memorial Union Player Most Likely To See Red: Faryd Mondragon. A goalie? Really? Well, hopefully he's fully fit, but watch out if Mondragon is forced to come out of his net to challenge a Dallas player in behind the Union back line. Pulling a player down in the box, seeing red, and giving up a PK would be the ultimate in the history of this award.